Palace archivist dismisses claim to Principality

An official at the Prince’s Palace has poured scorn on the claim that the family of a descendant of Prince Honoré III should have acceded to the throne of the Principality.

Count Louis de Causans has submitted a legal claim for more than 350 million euros against the French state for giving preference to a different line of the family. dismissing his family from the throne of Monaco.

Thomas Fouilleron, director of the archives of the Prince’s Palace said that the claim “makes no sense.” He points out that Prince Albert I used his authority by means of a decree, on November 15, 1911, to recognise the illegitimate daughter of Prince Louis, Charlotte, conferring on her a right of succession in the absence of a legitimate direct male heir of his son. Princess Charlotte renounced her position in 1944 in favour of her own son, Prince Rainier III.

Had Prince Albert I not made this move, it would have been possible for the Urach-Württemberg branch to become the rulers of Monaco at a time when Europe was in great turmoil. Certainly, the French authorities would not countenance German aristocrats at the head of the House of Grimaldi in the years just before the First World War.

Mr Fullerton claims: “It is the sovereign Princes of Monaco who have sovereignly organised their succession.The claim of Louis Causans… is without historical foundation.”

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On Tuesday morning, May 8, Prince Albert and his delegation arrived in Halifax, capital of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, where they were welcomed by Dr Richard Florizone, President of Dalhousie University and Dr Alice Aiken, Vice-President of the University.
The Monaco delegation visited the Steele Ocean Sciences Building, home of the International Oceanography Centre called the "Ocean Frontier Institute" which explores the vast potential of the ocean with the aim of devising innovatory and sustainable solutions which respect the principle of blue growth.
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Prince Albert visited the ocean and marine research laboratories before speaking in the afternoon during a public debate on the theme “A sea of opportunity”. His Serene Highness congratulated the Institute on the quality of its work on ocean preservation and on the resources deployed to sustain its ambitious programmes, stressing that “if progress is to be made, the oceans need a productive alliance between research and political action” – a challenge which his great-great-grandfather, Prince Albert I, had taken up in his day and which Prince Albert II is pursuing with determination in turn today.
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The Sovereign Prince also took part in a question and answer session with students on the economic, social and environmental issues of the oceans as well as on the preservation of marine biodiversity.
To conclude his visit to Nova Scotia, Prince Albert participated in a dinner at the Canadian Forces Base in Halifax. Upon his arrival, he reviewed the troops as the national anthems of Monaco and Canada were played. At the end of the farewell dinner Prince Albert and his delegation took off for Philadelphia in the US.
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Prince Albert has been in Portugal for several days for a visit of a diplomatic, historical and scientific nature.
On Tuesday, September 5, the Sovereign Prince met HE Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, President of the Republic of Portugal at the Belém National Palace in Lisbon. They discussed bilateral relations, issues of environmental protection and, more specifically, the topic of Marine Protected Areas.
Then, the Prince went to Funchal, on the Portuguese island of Madeira, to meet up with the Yersin of the Explorations de Monaco as it sets out for Macaronesia.
This first scientific stage is also of historical significance because Prince Albert has returned to the footsteps of his great-great-grandfather Prince Albert I.
Prince Albert attended the opening of the exhibition "A Prince explorer, Albert I of Monaco on the discovery of Madeira", to be held at the Museum of Natural History of Funchal until January 7, 2018.
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This exhibition, carried out by the Archives of the Prince's Palace in coordination with the Oceanographic Museum, the Audiovisual Archives of Monaco and the Natural History Museum of Funchal, is designed as a travel diary that follows the route to Madeira of Prince Albert I between 1879 and 1912.
It was also on the island that Prince Albert I of Monaco, then heir to the throne, met in 1879 for the first time the Duchess of Richelieu, who became Princess Alice when he married her in 1889.
On Wednesday, September 6, Prince Albert went to the Church of Our Lady of Monte, which houses the statue of the Virgin of Monte, patron saint of Madeira, as well as the tomb of Emperor Charles I of Austria (1887-1922), beatified by John Paul II in 2004.
The Sovereign Prince concluded his visit to Monte by returning to Funchal aboard the famous Carros de Cesto.
The Prince also participated in a workshop of experts who will present a synthesis on research on the monk seal, now the most threatened species in the Mediterranean.
Since August 20, ten researchers from three different organisations have also taken turns to draw up an inventory of the biodiversity of the waters of the little-known archipelago.
Friday, September 7 will be devoted to the discovery of the desert islands, an uninhabited archipelago off Madeira, with the exploration of two caves and the observation of monk seals, cetaceans and seabirds. Prince Albert I had repeatedly explored these Desertas Islands during his visits to more than one hundred years ago.